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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26940691">Year One, Day One</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/gundamthey17/pseuds/gundamthey17'>gundamthey17</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, TW: Misgendering, Trans!Sirius</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 17:00:49</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,308</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26940691</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/gundamthey17/pseuds/gundamthey17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Sirius Black is nervous about his first day at Hogwarts for more reasons than one. Luckily, he quickly makes a friend.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Sirius Black &amp; James Potter</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>54</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Trans Wizard Tournament 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Year One, Day One</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This was commissioned by @lifetoanother on Tumblr for the Trans Wizard Tournament!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Sirius Black,” called Professor McGonagall in a sharp, clear voice.</p><p>
In that moment, Sirius found himself hating his last name for an entirely new reason: it started with B. Why couldn’t his last name have been Zebwick? Nobody would be prideful about the Noble and Most Ancient House of Zebwick. But no, it had to be Black, which meant he was only the third student to be Sorted, right after Rufus Armitage and Edmond Baelfort.</p><p>
He swallowed, took a breath, and climbed the stairs to the awaiting stool. He sat, and Professor McGonagall placed the hat on his head.</p><p>
<i>Hmm</i>, said a voice, and the voice was inside his head. <i>Sirius Black. I know your family well. Slytherins, all. But you… hmm.</i> It deliberated for a moment. <i>The road ahead of you is not an easy one. But you will choose to walk it all the same. You are true to yourself, and no one else. In which case…</i> It fell silent for another moment, then shouted for the entire Great Hall to hear, <i>GRYFFINDOR!</i></p><p>
For a heartbeat, the room was silent as nearly everyone who was familiar with his family experienced feelings of surprise, shock, disgust, or anger. Even McGonagall’s eyebrow twitched curiously. But then she smiled down at him, and as the Gryffindor table began to cheer for their newest member, she murmured, “Welcome to Gryffindor, Sirius.”</p><p>Sirius fell into step among his classmates as they followed one of the prefects up the stairs to their dormitory. As the staircase moved under them, some students gasped in surprise and fear, and one small blond boy squeezed his eyes shut and clutched the railing. But Sirius took it all in, unable to keep from grinning. He was at Hogwarts. Away from home for the first time in his life. And he was in <i>Gryffindor</i>. He would hardly have to see his cousins at all.</p><p><br/>
They stopped in front of a portrait of a woman, who was aptly and candidly called The Fat Lady. The prefect said <i>“calidum saxa”</i> loud enough for all of the first years to hear, and the portrait swung open to reveal a cozy, lush common room. Sirius thought his heart was about to beat out of his chest. No more dark, dingy stairwells and cobweb-coated passageways. The room was full of pillows and couches and armchairs, with a large fireplace in the center, and everything was colored in shades of scarlet and gold.<br/>
The prefect at the head of the line, a girl named Millie Ipswitch, cleared her throat. “This is the common room. You’ll get to spend a lot of time here, I promise, but for now it’s probably best you all head up to your rooms to unpack. The boys’ dormitories are up these stairs on your left. Girls, up these stairs on your right. Please note that boys are not allowed in the girls’ dormitories, and vice versa. You may mingle all you like down here, but old Godric was apparently worried about what shenanigans might ensue if boys and girls were in each other’s rooms.” There were a few laughs at that.</p><p>
“All right,” chimed in Henry Attwood, another prefect. “Go on, up to your rooms. If you need anything, the prefects will be in the common room for the next hour.”</p><p>Students jostled and dispersed, returning students taking the lead as they reunited with friends and trod familiar paths to their rooms. The first years were moving far more hesitantly, but Sirius didn’t feel like waiting around. He ducked his head and moved with determination toward the stairs.</p><p>“Oh, um,” called a voice. It was Henry, standing at the junction between the stairs. “Sorry, the girls’ dormitory is on the right.”</p><p>Sirius stopped in his tracks and felt his ears get hot. But he kept his voice even as he turned to him, feigning nonchalance, and said, “I know.”</p><p>Henry frowned. “Girls aren’t allowed in the boys’ dormitory.”</p><p>“Yup, got it.”</p><p>“What I mean is, your dormitory is over here.”</p><p>“No, it’s not.”</p><p>By this point, the first years in the common room had started to watch, and some of the other students poked their heads curiously down the stairwells.</p><p>Henry cast his eyes to the other prefects, looking for help. “I’m afraid I don’t understand.”</p><p>Sirius planted his feet and looked up at the older boy without flinching. “I’m a boy. I’m going to the boys’ dormitory.”</p><p>At that point, Millie joined Henry in the stairwell, and they conferred in hushed tones.</p><p>“Can we do that?”</p><p>“I’m not sure.”</p><p>“I don’t think we should.”</p><p>“We could ask McGonagall.”</p><p>“Not at this time of night.”</p><p><br/>“Oy!” called a new voice. The prefects looked up, startled. Sirius followed their gaze and saw one of the first years, a boy with glasses and messy black hair, moving toward them. “If he says he’s a boy, then he’s a boy, and he belongs in the boys’ dormitory. What’s so hard about that?”</p><p>Sirius felt a rush of gratitude. Some of the tension left his shoulders.</p><p>Millie glanced at Henry and sighed. “Look, Sirius… we can ask Professor McGonagall about it tomorrow. For now, how about you just go to the girls’ dormitory? Just for tonight.”</p><p>Sirius’ eyes filled with tears, and he quickly dropped his gaze so no one would notice. “Thanks for trying, mate,” he murmured to the boy with the glasses as he walked past.</p><p>But the boy wasn’t done. “I have a question,” he announced.</p><p>“Yes?” Henry asked, his patience clearly wearing thin.</p><p>“What happens if a boy tries to go into the girls’ dormitory?”</p><p>“Ah, well, funny you should ask. See, Godric Gryffindor enchanted the stairwells. If you tried to go up those stairs, they would turn into a slide, and you wouldn’t be able to…”</p><p>He trailed off as Sirius lost his balance and slid down the stairs that were, at that moment, demonstrating the very enchantment Henry had been describing.</p><p>“Like that?” asked the boy in the glasses with a satisfied smirk.</p><p>“Uh…”</p><p>“If he says he’s a boy, and the <i>castle</i> says he’s a boy, then he’s a boy!”</p><p>Henry and Millie looked at each other and shrugged.</p><p>“All right,” Millie said, gesturing to the left staircase. “Just get to bed.”</p><p>Sirius nodded and scrambled up the stairs, hardly believing what had just happened.</p><p><br/>
Sirius was the first to arrive at the first years’ bedroom. There were four beds, and he claimed the one in the farthest corner of the room, near the window. He smiled softly as he grabbed his trunk from the center of the room and started unpacking his belongings.</p><p>The boy with the glasses arrived not long after. “Phew, that was a lot of nonsense, wasn’t it?” he said loudly, flopping down onto the bed closest to the door. “Glad we got that sorted.”</p><p>“Did you…” Sirius started.</p><p>“Did I…? What?”</p><p>“Did you know that? About the stairs?”</p><p>“That they turn into a slide? Yeah, my dad told me.”</p><p>“Did you know that they would do that for… for me?”</p><p>The boy shrugged. “I figure Gryffindor was a pretty smart bloke, so yeah. I thought if you knew that you’re a boy, the enchantment would as well.”</p><p>Sirius didn’t know what to say. When he finally found his voice, he settled on, “Thanks.”</p><p>“Don’t mention it. It was nothing.”</p><p>“What’s your name?”</p><p>“James Potter,” the boy said proudly. “And yours?”</p><p>“Sirius Black.”</p><p>James grinned at him. “I knew that. I was just asking to be polite.”</p><p>“You sure about that?”</p><p>James sat up and eyed him curiously. Then he stood and crossed the room to where Sirius was standing, and held out his hand. “Welcome to Gryffindor, Sirius Black. It’s gonna be a good year.”</p><p>As Sirius shook James’ hand, he couldn’t hide his smile. “Yeah, I think it is.”</p>
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